David Cohen, of The Evening Standard, was nominated for leading his paper’s Dispossessed campaign to highlight the plight of London’s poor.

Nick Davies, of The Guardian, has been nominated for leading the investigation into phone-hacking at the News of The World, while Eamonn McCann, who writes for The Irish Times, The Belfast Newsletter and The Guardian, joins Davies with a nomination for his campaigning for justice for the families of those killed on Bloody Sunday.

Linda Geddes, of The New Scientist, has been nominated for her investigation The Truth about DNA, while Clare Sambrook, who writes for openDemocracy and a string of national and regional newspapers, completes the list of nominees for her campaign to end child detention.

The award, which is run by Private Eye and the Guardian , will see the winner presented with a cheque for £5,000 at a ceremony in London on 2 November, each of those shortlisted will receive a £1,000 prize.